'Actor's actor' James Whitmore

February 7, 2009|By Dennis McLellan Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — James Whitmore, the veteran Tony and Emmy Award-winning actor who brought American icons Will Rogers, Harry Truman and Theodore Roosevelt to life in one-man shows, died Friday. He was 87.

Mr. Whitmore died of lung cancer at his home in Malibu, said his son, Steve. "He cared about acting; his whole life was dedicated to the theater and to movies," said actor David Huddleston, a longtime friend who appeared in Mr. Whitmore's 1964 movie Black Like Me, and did a couple of plays with him.

"I asked James Cagney one time to tell me the best thing you can about acting. He said never to get caught at it. That's kind of how I'd sum up Jim Whitmore," Huddleston said.

James Arness, who appeared with Mr. Whitmore in the movies Battleground and Them!, said Mr. Whitmore was "an actor's actor," adding that "it was always a treat to work with him."

Arness also remembered the "great intensity" Mr. Whitmore could bring to a role.

"When we wanted to get an actor to play a character who had that quality, Jimmy was the guy you'd think of," said Arness, who starred in Gunsmoke, a TV series in which Mr. Whitmore often appeared.